Phoebe Philo exits Céline but her legacy will live on

Since joining Céline in late 2008, Phoebe Philo has captured our collective imagination, striking a fine balance between approachable and aspirational. Her work immediately offered an articulate expression of modern luxury, one characterized by sleek, unfussy minimalism.

Ramya Giangola, founder of global brand consultancy Gogoluxe and noted ‘Philophile’, was struck: “When Phoebe launched the new direction of Céline for Resort 2010, I saw the collection in the brand’s temporary showroom in NYC. I was immediately blown away, and the mood in the showroom was palpable. Every single detail—logo, fabrics, ready-to-wear, accessories—was covetable. I was hooked from that first moment.”

“Céline is the only show I really watch as a consumer,” says Jo Ellison, fashion editor at the Financial Times. “I’m reviewing it, but in the back of my mind I’m shopping it. Every season there’s always something exciting to yearn for in the months before it arrives in store. She has an absolute genius for identifying that thing that makes a collection really sing.”

Tricia Smith, executive vice president of women’s apparel at Nordstrom, tells a similar tale: “I can’t remember the last time I haven’t been able to separate my own personal wardrobe considerations from those of the Céline customers we buy for at Nordstrom. There is both a sophistication and edge that appeals to so many generations of women.”

Philo’s work isn’t all sophistication. As Giangola notes, there is a sense of captivating playfulness: “From her porcelain deer earring, to her super chubby, electric pink shearling, to her mismatched red and white boots, I think there is real humour in her aesthetic. You can be high fashion and humorous at the same time and still super desirable.”

It’s this subtle mélange of energies that animates Philo’s designs. Her work is tough, elegant and eccentric, sometimes all at once. It is closer to a personality than a brand image, and this is what gives it its particularly feminine, nuanced strength.

“It’s not complicated,” says Ellison. “Every season that Phoebe has spoken about her work, and she rarely does anymore, she’s talked about her design being about modern femininity, and new perspectives on glamour, and what women want. She has continued to put women and their lives at the heart of her design, without compromising attitude, intelligence, or excitement.”

“She has an uncanny ability to interpret the direction of the cultural zeitgeist,” Eugenie Dalland, stylist and publisher of cult art/fashion magazine Riot of Perfume. “I think that there’s a steady, albeit slow, development in pop culture of an ideal woman who is mature, and autonomous, and sexy, as opposed to the sexually objectified ideal we’ve known for so long. She’s designing clothes for a strong, opinionated, chic, adult woman, and I think that’s an ideal that women of all ages can instantly get behind.”

That ideal and approach emerges in all facets of Philo’s Céline. In January 2015, the brand unveiled a campaign featuring a portrait of legendary essayist Joan Didion in chunky shades, shot by Juergen Teller. The image revealed a pinpoint understanding of the Céline customer. She’s bored of commercial fashion imagery, fed up with being force-fed traditional beauty standards. She has a sense of humour. She’s well-read. The photograph went predictably viral. At the time, Céline didn’t have an official Instagram account—it does as of this past February—but in the smartphone era, any image has the potential to be digitized, so it’s possible to win the game without obviously playing it. This has, in a sense, been Céline’s overall business strategy over the past decade: create perfectly resonant collections, and trust that the clothes will find their audience. And it’s worked—though the label has eschewed e-commerce thus far, sales have more than tripled during Philo’s tenure. Giangola explains why: “The quality is bar none, and the pieces never feel dated. You know that when you buy pieces from the collection, you can wear them forever. It’s anti-fast fashion.”

This quiet resistance to the ever-quickening pace of the industry is part of the appeal. When Philo joined Céline, it was after a three-year break from fashion to focus on her family life. She is famously reticent, too, press-shy protective of her privacy. The way she has approached her work is arguably as much of an inspiration as the work itself. “I do hope that part of her legacy will be to serve as an example to designers—and to CEOs—that it’s important to take a break from creating,” says Dalland. “You must have time in order to generate ideas, hone them, come up with fresh perspectives.”

I asked Ellison to suggest an item or two that stand as emblems of Philo’s design ethos. She gave me three: the mannish trouser, the oversized roll neck and the ugly shoe. “Minimal, luxurious, and always slightly unexpected,” she explains. That’s as apt a summary as you’ll find of the universe Philo has created at Céline—one that will continue to enchant even after her exit.”